(hla) Fainting while exercising can be dangerous. However, according to the National Institutes of Health Medline Plus, the underlying cause of fainting may not always be caused by a serious condition. The cause of fainting can be due to malnutrition, overheating, dehydration and stress, though in serious cases, an underlying heart disease may also be the cause. It is therefore important for both the instructor and client to fully understand his/her body condition before conducting any exercise.

According to the National Academy of Sports Medicine, fainting is resulted when the brain is starving from blood or oxygen: “During exercise, as much as 80% of blood is shunted away from vital organs and directed to skeletal, thus reducing blood flow to the brain.”

Having improper breathing during exercise will also decrease blood flow to the brain. Clients who exercise at the gym should be properly advised as to the importance of maintaining a healthy breathing pattern so as to avoid fainting.

Apart from the possibility of indicating a serious underlying health issue, fainting can be dangerous to the victim especially when s/he is using equipment at any fitness centre as this may lead to injury. When the client is unaware of his/her surrounding, s/he may hit his/her head on the wall or any other hard objects, which can lead to the loss of consciousness.
• Make sure body is properly hydrated by drinking enough water.
• Ensure sufficient warm-up before beginning any form of exercise to avoid sudden shock to the body.
• Ensure that you are not overheated; do not exercise in an overheated environment.
• Seek for professional help if you are under stress. Do not keep it to yourself.
• Avoid sudden stop while exercising because the blood pressure can fall and cause fainting. You should slowly cease working out before you stopping entirely so that the heart rate and blood circulation can properly adapt.
• If you are not feeling well while exercising, inform your instructor about it. S/he should be able to provide you with proper guidance and keep a good watch if s/he decides you are fit to continue working out.


As an instructor, here is what you should and should not do when facing such a situation:
• Educate the client on how to prevent fainting during and after exercise. Do not presume that the client already has such knowledge.
• Be alert and keep watch to determine if your client is under stress or not feeling well.
• Make sure the environment is not too hot. Ensure that the air is properly circulated throughout the centre/studio.
• Avoid giving client vigorous workout without proper preparation. Make sure they are physically ready for any vigorous workout.
• Ensure that your client has done sufficient warm-up before the exercise and allow him/her to cool down after exercise. Supervise them and ensure that they do not stop suddenly while exercising.


The best thing to do to manage 'fainting' is to let the victim lie on their back and elevate both legs with pillows or anything else that will bring both legs above the heart. Ensure that other clients / students do not surround the victim so that there is proper air circulation to allow easier breathing.

The risk of fainting does not happen only during exercise. Fainting can take place after exercise as well. According to Dr. Grant Cooper, MD, in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, if there is no proper cool down after exercise, you will also face risk of fainting. Hence, it is important to take all the necessary precautions before and after exercise. The task lies in both the hands of the instructor and the client to maintain a safe environment for working out.

(hla) PEOPLE these days spend so much time choosing the right outfit for specific occasions. Why should choosing the right exercise outfit be any different? Many assume that as long as the working out gear is comfortable, it is sufficient, but is it?

There are different attires to wear in different situations. When you visit any fitness centre, you will notice different people with a different attire. There are those who specifically wear sports wear and adhere to a certain outfit protocol. Maybe, for some, wearing those branded exercise wear gives them a boost of confidence or a feeling of belonging to a fitness centre / gym while for others, it may just simply be because they were designed for such workouts that the clients actually feel comfortable putting them on for exercise.

It has become a trend today to be 'trendy' or fashionable at fitness centres. Remember, a place where you work out is not a catwalk. Believe it or not, do not be surprised to hear fitness instructors telling you that clients have actually turned up for their workout programme in high heels! It is not so much about the brand of the exercise gear that you put on during your workout but the purpose of which it serves for your programme.

There are various factors that many fail to understand how important wearing a proper outfit for exercise actually is. Here are some of the many reasons:


1) The Right Workout Gear Adds Protection and Prevents Injuries
Wearing the right workout gear will add protection to our body. Thick clothing can lead to excessive sweating and causes the body to lose heat more rapidly and may increase the risk of hypothermia. Therefore, porous clothing is recommended during workout. Wearing the right workout gear also helps to prevent injuries. For instance, wearing gloves can protect the hands from developing calluses when weight lifting.

It is also possible for excessively baggy clothing to get trapped in heavy equipment that may result in injuries.


2) Well-fitted Clothing Improves Freedom of Movement
Focusing on movement is important when exercising. If the clothing doesn’t offer the right support or if it restricts the movement, it may affect the workout regime. For instance, when doing yoga, the pants that you are wearing must provide you with the flexibility to stretch. While baggy outfits may be comfortable, practising inverted Yoga postures in them may be a huge inconvenience there may be body exposure when the clothes 'fall back'. Baggy shirt and tight pants will therefore restrict your freedom of movement and is therefore not recommended for Yoga practitioners.


3) Compression Clothing Can Aid In Recovery After Exercise
Compression clothing provides graduated compression to stimulate circulation. It is like a massaging effect which stimulates blood flow. The increased blood flowing through muscles removes the lactic acid produced during exercise. Recovery is boosted as a result. Muscles are less sore and stiff as the direct pressure applied to muscle can reduce soreness and inflammation.


4) The Correct Sports Clothing Improves Performance
A good and correct sports attire will help to improve performance. For instance, a top that is made of non-breathable material can stop the release of heat from the body. Shirts made of 100% cotton absorbs sweat and hold it against the body. All these will result in excessive heating and discomfort, which will cut short your exercise time. Therefore, choose workout clothing that wicks perspiration away from your body. This will help to improve performance during workout.


5) The Right Sports Clothing Boosts Confidence
When you are wearing well-fitted workout clothing, you will feel more confident. This confidence translates into better performance. When you are wearing right and feel confident about it, you will want to spend longer time in the fitness centre. So, what you wear will make a difference if you believe it will help you perform better.


To enhance your workout regime, choose the right workout gear and you are sure to enjoy your experience and optimise your workout potential.



Stay tune for our future article on why choosing the correct sports shoe is just as important as choosing your workout clothing! There are tons to choose from. Which one is best for you?

(hla) If you want your hair to STOP falling, then STOP using chemical-based shampoo.

When I was living in Dubai a few years ago, my hair started to drop like mad due to hard-water and of course, shampoo in cute tiny bottles provided by the hotels in different parts of the world. These were all chemical-based products and they were NO GOOD for my hair.

(hla) Has a natural cure for depression surfaced today? Over the years, various researches have highlighted that the conventional anti-depressants sued to treat mental health diseases may do more harm than good.

Paul Andrews, an evolutionary biologist at McMaster University and lead author of an article published in the online journal Frontiers in Psychology, says that "...we need to be more cautious about the widespread use of these drugs."

(hla) The misuse of prescribed medication is increasing with the growing population of the elderly. David Osli, professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine highlights that the abuse of medications "is a rising problem in seniors as the baby-boom generation ages."

(hla) WHILE it is commonly accepted that the Ebola disease has no proven cure, some doctors propose that Vitamin C may be effective in fighting against the Ebola virus.

Ebola continues to be a serious global concern as the Ebola death toll rises. There are no official trials yet testing Vitamin C against the Ebola virus but so far, there has been no virus that a sustained high dose of Vitamin C, administered either orally or intravenously, has not killed off.

(hla) A teacher not only lost a whopping 37 pounds but also experienced a rapid drop in his cholestrol level from a reading of 249 to 170 by eating exclusively at McDonald's for 90 days, local TV station KCCI reported.

The result of this particular experiment challenges the health factors posed in the 2004 documentary Super Size Me (SSM) whereby the subject who also ate only at McDonald's, experienced a deterioration of health. Science teacher John Cisna in the Colo-Nesco School District in Ankeny, Iowa wanted to show his students that health is not so much about where you eat, but what you eat.

(hla) The popularity of Complementary and Alternative Medicines in the Philippines was evident at the 12th Annual Conference organised by the Philippines College in the Advancement of Medicine Inc. (PCAM) at Club Filipino, Manila last month.

(hla) Dr. Russell Blaylock, a neurosurgeon and author of “Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills” says that MSG is an excitotoxin (overexcites the cells to the point of damage or death) that can lead to varying degrees of brain damage and may even trigger or worsen learning disabilities, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease and more. He also says that numerous glutamate receptors have been found both within the heart's electrical conduction system and the heart muscle itself. MSG can be damaging to the heart and may even explain the sudden deaths sometimes seen among young athletes.

(hla) According to the statistics provided by the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), melanoma (the deadliest form of skin cancer) has been increasing by 6 percent annually. Only 18 percent of women was reported to schedule for an annual skin check with a qualified medical doctor. L'Oreal Paris also reported that 88 percent of women have never discussed the condition with their doctors and only 30 percent of them conduct a monthly skin self-exam as recommended by the Skin Cancer Foundation.

(hla) A study published in JAMA Psychiatry suggests that children and young adults prescribed with antipsychotic drugs are at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Prescribe Update states that a higher risk of type 2 diabetes among adult schizophrenic patients is already known, and the use of antipsychotic drugs increases the risk further.

(hla) While Chinese scientists who tracked the evolution of the new bird flu virus (the H7N9 virus) discovered that ducks were the main hosts before the outbreak, they also found a new strain of virus called the H7N7 that has the ability to infect ferrets.

Since ferrets are often used as a laboratory subject to test if a particular virus can infect humans, the results of this test suggest that there may be a new flu virus lurking in birds that could potentially infect mammals.

(hla) Dogs have been discovered to be useful for another type of service to man; they can warn diabetic patients when their blood sugar levels are becoming low.

The powerful sense of smell of canines is no new story. Alexandra Horowitz, dog-cognition researcher at Barnard College, claims in her book 'Inside of a Dog' that dogs can even detect a teaspoon of sugar in a million gallons of water.